Branded internet providers – are they adding value?

I recently read an article about the top reasons to support local coffee shops, and my key takeaways were: guaranteed quality, better value for money and improved customer experience.

As time has gone on, I do believe that the hype around the bigger franchises has died down, and people are actually choosing their local, non-franchise coffee shops for those very reasons.

The article made me realise how similar it is for Internet Service Providers like ourselves. There are hundreds of smaller ISPs in the UK, however, nobody has heard of them, and they are constantly overshadowed by the bigger, more ‘well-known’ brands. Sure, comparing a cup of coffee to the broadband supplier of a large building is a bit far-fetched, but the principles remain the same. Companies are (understandably) afraid of trying something new, as the risk and financial implications can be huge.

On the other hand, perhaps construction companies are getting lazy. They are choosing the same supplier because they do an average job and the logo is recognisable so it makes their building ‘look better’. However, are they actually getting their money’s worth? Are they actually researching what is available on the market and what will provide their residents with the best service?

Guaranteed quality

Smaller companies focus so much on the quality of their services – they cannot afford to make mistakes. Especially in the smaller ISP world, quality is non-negotiable and if something goes wrong, it can jeopardise their reputation in the market.

Bigger, more ‘well-known’ brands: are they doing the most for their customers?

Unlike other bigger ISPs, we don’t charge extortionate prices and on top of that, we actually save our clients hundreds of thousands of pounds on build costs annually. It’s so frustrating to see construction companies pay premium prices for super slow speeds as well as putting more infrastructure in their buildings than they actually need and failing to get good value for money, which flows down to the residents living in the homes they built, who pay for this.

Improved customer experience

How long have you stayed on the phone waiting for your broadband provider to fix your problem. One customer of ours told us recently that ‘ABC Provider’ kept her on hold for two hours. She felt it was an insult to her that they must have thought she had that time to waste in her day. The customer experience with smaller companies is more sympathetic.

We care about our customers and are grateful for them believing in us. If something were to go wrong, we can fix 99% of faults remotely and you won’t have to spend days on the phone. Our services are live within 60 seconds and ready to go with no engineer required; creating a seamless and convenient experience for your residents.

Amy Perkins is client executive at ClearFibre, part of the Telcom Group. Please get in touch: amy.perkins@clearfibre.uk

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